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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A bit of a blow

The forecast westerly blow looked OK this morning but was only about 6m/second, quiet light. I decided to head out anyway and tried Norra Ängalag. Had a good 2.5 hour session here before breakfast. Highlights included a scattering of passage waders going past close including knot (15), dunlin (55), bar-tailed godwit (1) and grey plover (3). Seabirds included gannet (5 south), lesser black-backed gull (2 south) and a poor view of a Manx shearwater to the north and heading that way too. Razorbills went past in good numbers (7) and also one guillemot. Stationary stuff here included curlew sandpiper (2), whimbrel (1) and turnstone (1).

When I got back home a quick look at the available gen indicated that shearwaters were moving and that Cory's was a distinct possibility if I got back out. This I time went to Hovs Hallar - the spot around here for sea-watching. Despite another 2.5 hours failed to connect with Manx or Cory's. The latter had gone to ground in the bay somewhere. Did get great skua (1), gannet (1) and more passage birds including common scoter (20), turnstone (1), common sandpiper (5), grey plover (2), whimbrel (2), razorbill (2) and guillemot (1). Before going home checked Båstad for 45 minutes to see if anything was in the bay and sitting around. This partly paid off with a single fulmar (plus three goosander).

Had to get back to the house but checked the gen later in the afternoon to find all hell had broken loose with a Cory's shuttling between Hovs Hallar and Kattvik. Made a dash for the easiest of these two to access (Kattvik) but missed the bird by 15 minutes. As we sat watching we heard that the bird had slipped south past Ripagården. Leaving me to rue the decision to head for Kattvik instead of taking the other option of heading it off if it went south. You win some you learn some. Sea-watching is the only type of birding that I do that demands a pager - I guess I will crack eventually. It would just be handy to know what was coming from the north and be able to nip out and intercept it.

1 comment:

Bad luck with the Cory's but still a pretty good day with some locally hard to see birds such as Manx, Fulmar etc.. (neither of which I have seen in Denmark). Am away for two weeks from Friday (the second week camping in Bohuslan!) but will be in touch on my return to arrange my second visit... Good luck with the wader passage over the next couple of weeks.

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I am an English birder based, together with my Anglo-Swedish family, in the middle of the Bjäre peninsula in southern Sweden. We moved here from Norfolk in 2007 and have not looked back. The birding is very high quality. The number of birds that remain in the wider countryside is fantastic and the visible migration in spring and autumn is breathtaking. Fewer rare birds than in Britain no doubt, but there are fewer birders so it is mostly primary action. I only spend two-thirds of the year in Sweden though. I am lucky enough to spend the remainder of the year birding abroad.